News & Commentary

And coinciding with the market's initial pullback around midday, Philadelphia Federal Reserve President Charles Plosser said the central bank's QE3 will not do much to boost economic growth or lower unemployment. However, Brian Battle of Performance Trust Capital Partners said debate is already "priced in." "Plosser and [Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Richard] Fisher have been clear that [QE3] will not be effective...but the fact is that their dissenting makes no difference."

Apple Inc climbed 0.9 percent to $704.78, after earlier hitting an all-time high of $705.07. The iPhone 5 hit stores around the world, giving the world's most valuable company a boost ahead of the crucial end-of-year holiday season. "In a stable full of donkeys, there is one racehorse, and everyone is buying the racehorse," said Brian Battle, director of trading at Performance Trust Capital Partners in Chicago, in reference to Apple. "You have - which is something rare in the market these days - a stock that has fundamental value. It's not just a headline. It's not just hope."

The strike has sent parents rushing to find child care, though the impact on businesses has been muted, at least so far. “If this takes more than a week, then there’s going to have to be changes,” said Brian Battle, director of trading at Performance Trust Capital Partners, a broker-dealer that has about 150 people working in its Chicago office. “You can wing it for a couple of days, but the duration of the work stoppage is what’s going to determine our reaction.”

Stocks recovered from their lows to close mixed on the first trading day of September, but a pair of disappointing economic reports and jitters ahead of the ECB meeting later this week kept a lid on gains. “We should start getting used to these big [market swings]—there will be a lot of headlines in the next few weeks and that’s what’s going to define this fall,” said Brian Battle, vice president of trading at Performance Trust Capital Partners. “It’s remarkable that we’ve had any sort of rally whatsoever in the absence of any fundamental growth and it’s inexplicable that we should be at these prices—this seems to be like the calm before the storm.”

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